The University of Wisconsin–Madison rose to the sixth spot nationwide for university research spending for the first time since 2016, Wisconsin Public Radio reports. The university gained two spots over the prior year in the National Science Foundation’s 2023 Higher Education Research and Development (HERD) ranking, with just over $1.7 billion in research spending.
Nationally, 920 public and private universities are considered in the ranking. UW–Madison was ranked in the top five for decades before falling to sixth place in 2016 — a drop attributed to state budget cuts. In 2018, the university fell to the eighth spot, remaining there until last year.
Last year’s research spending at UW–Madison increased by over $208 million, or 14%, over 2022 figures. According to the university, most of it came from grants from federal agencies such as the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Department of Defense.
